Renowned surgeon and author Dr. Atul Gawande discusses his frustrations with President Obama on healthcare reform, the ethical conundrums of learning and practicing medicine, and his most recent book, The Checklist Manifesto. [includes rush transcript]

The new Republican majority threatens a barrage of investigations. California Republican Darrell Issa is the new chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and he has reportedly sent letters to 150 trade associations, companies and think tanks, seeking advice on which regulations to investigate.

Four prisoners in the supermax Ohio State Penitentiary have launched a hunger strike to protest what they call their harsh mistreatment under solitary confinement. The prisoners — Bomani Shakur, Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Jason Robb and Namir Abdul Mateen — were sentenced to death for their involvement in the 1993 prison uprising in Lucasville, Ohio. For over 17 years, they’ve been held in 23-hour-a-day solitary lockdown. [includes rush transcript]

President Barack Obama signed a slew of bills into law during the lame-duck session of Congress and was dubbed the “Comeback Kid” amid a flurry of fawning press reports. In the hail of this surprise bipartisanship, though, the one issue over which Democrats and Republicans always agree, war, was completely ignored. The war in Afghanistan is now the longest war in U.S. history, and 2010 has seen the highest number of U.S. and NATO soldiers killed.

Dr. Binayak Sen is known as the "physician of the poor." He spent many years working as a doctor in the rural-tribal areas of Chhattisgarh in central India and reported on unlawful killings of indigenous people by the police and private militias. [includes rush transcript]

Former Argentine dictator Jorge Videla has been sentenced to life in prison. We speak with Hebe de Bonafini, one of the founders of the Association of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, an organization of Argentine mothers whose children were "disappeared" during the "dirty wars" of the ’70s and ’80s. [includes rush transcript]

One of President Barack Obama’s signature campaign promises was to protect the freedom of the Internet. He said, in November 2007, “I will take a back seat to no one in my commitment to network neutrality, because once providers start to privilege some applications or websites over others, then the smaller voices get squeezed out and we all lose.”

Jaclyn Friedman argues the sexual-assault allegations shouldn’t be dismissed just because they’re politically motivated while Naomi Wolf says, by going after Assange, the state is not embracing feminism, it’s "pimping" it.
Watch Part I of this conversation HERE.

“I like Democracy Now! since it is a one-of-kind media platform, which acts as global watchdog for Democracy,” Chandra said. Democracy Now! noticed Chandra when he posted a comment on our Facebook page December 6, thrilled to be our 100,000th fan.

Democracy Now! videotaped U.N. security guards Friday beating a Reuters photographer who was arrested while covering a protest at the U.N. climate conference in Cancún. Guards seized Jorge Silva’s press credentials and then beat him while he was detained on a bus. The incident sparked a protest by other Mexican photographers. Watch video

This year’s UN climate change conference has attracted many children from around the world. In Cancún, Mexico, Democracy Now! had the chance to speak with two children from the youth-led group Plant-for-the-Planet.

Youth climate activists from around the world are gathered in Cancún this week to push for a binding climate deal. Democracy Now! spoke to several of them on Monday at Cancunmesse, the main hub of NGO activity here at the U.N. climate talks. [includes rush transcript]

A stunning indictment has been handed down in Cincinnati, focusing attention again on police killings of people of color. This is a start for accountability and justice. Cleveland should pay attention. As the thousand people gathered there last weekend said clearly, “Black Lives Matter.”

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